Tout K, de Haan M, Campbell E K, Gunnar M R
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, USA.
Child Dev. 1998 Oct;69(5):1247-62.
The relations between social behavior and daily patterns of a stress-sensitive hormone production were examined in preschool children (N = 75) attending center-based child care. Three behavioral dimensions, shy/anxious/internalizing, angry/aggressive/externalizing, and social competence, were assessed by teacher report and classroom observation, and their relations with 2 measures of cortisol activity, median (or typical) levels and reactivity (quartile range score between second and third quartile values) were explored. Cortisol-behavior relations differed by gender: significant associations were found for boys but not for girls. Specifically, for boys externalizing behavior was positively associated with cortisol reactivity, while internalizing behavior was negatively associated with median cortisol. Time of day of cortisol measurement affected the results. Surprisingly, median cortisol levels rose from morning to afternoon, a pattern opposite to that of the typical circadian rhythm of cortisol. This rise in cortisol over the day was positively correlated with internalizing behavior for boys. The methodological and theoretical implications of these findings for the study of the development of hormone-behavior relations are discussed.
在接受中心式儿童保育的学龄前儿童（N = 75）中，研究了社会行为与应激敏感激素产生的日常模式之间的关系。通过教师报告和课堂观察评估了三个行为维度，即害羞/焦虑/内化、愤怒/攻击/外化和社会能力，并探讨了它们与两种皮质醇活性指标（中位数（或典型）水平和反应性（第二和第三四分位数之间的四分位距分数））之间的关系。皮质醇与行为的关系因性别而异：在男孩中发现了显著关联，而在女孩中未发现。具体而言，对于男孩，外化行为与皮质醇反应性呈正相关，而内化行为与皮质醇中位数呈负相关。皮质醇测量的时间影响了结果。令人惊讶的是，皮质醇中位数水平从早晨到下午上升，这与典型的皮质醇昼夜节律模式相反。一天中皮质醇的这种升高与男孩的内化行为呈正相关。讨论了这些发现对激素与行为关系发展研究的方法学和理论意义。
